Opposition Spokesman on Finance, Audley Shaw, says the Government should bite the bullet and seek a waiver from the International Monetary Fund, IMF, if such a step is required for it to allocate billions needed to properly respond to the public health crisis.
Last Monday, Mr. Shaw called for the Government to tap into the the finance of the JEEP program, or the Petro Caribe Fund in order to respond to the intensifying Chikungunya outbreak.
On Thursday, the Office of the Prime Minister responded by announcing that $150-million would be allocated to the Chikungunya response.
Audley Shaw says that’s not enough.
He says if the 1-hundred-and-50 million is an indication that even in the face of a crisis the Simpson Miller-administration’s hands are tied in terms of expenditure, it should respond accordingly.
Mr. Shaw says it’s important that a breakdown be given of the source of the 1-hundred-and-50-million dollars, and exactly how it will be spent.
Responding to mounting criticism of her management of the Chikungunya disease, Prime Minister Simpson Miller-led a clean up of a section of her constituency on Saturday.
The Opposition Spokesman on Finance says the Prime Minister’s call to action is important though it has come a bit late.
AND with the authorities predicting that Chikungunya is in Jamaica to stay and could affect up to 60 per cent of the population, Mr. Shaw is calling for additional inter-ministerial action.
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